4 minute read
GROWING
GROWING NATIONAL AWARENESS
Bigger spirit. Boundless possibilities.
July 1, 2020, marked the start of a new era. Tarleton State University moved to NCAA Division I as the ninth full-time member of the Western Athletic Conference, increasing national recognition for athletes and academic programs.
Thirteen of Tarleton’s 14 sports immediately will compete in the WAC, while the football program will contend as an independent at the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) level until fall 2021.
Founded in 1962, the WAC crowns team and individual champions in 19 sports — nine men’s and 10 women’s. In addition to Tarleton, the conference comprises California Baptist University, Chicago State University, Dixie State University, Grand Canyon University, New Mexico State University, Seattle University, the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley and Utah Valley University. Abilene Christian, Lamar, Sam Houston State and Stephen F. Austin will join in 2021, followed by Southern Utah in 2022.
Tarleton’s move came at the right time for the right reasons, completing a three-decade trek that began with competition at the non-scholarship level.
Men’s coach Billy Gillispie joined the Texans in 2020, ready to take Tarleton’s successful basketball program to the next level. He has coached since the early 1980s, with stops at high school, junior college and Division I, and at UT El Paso, Texas A&M, Kentucky and Texas Tech as head coach.
Part of the Lone Star Conference (NCAA Division II) in 1994-2020, the Texans secured 37 championships, nine tournament wins and 14 regional victories. And they boast eight individual national championships in track and field.
The move to D-I extends the university’s geographic reach, supports enrollment growth, elevates the value of a Tarleton degree, improves diversity, expands partnership opportunities and aligns with the university’s goal to be the premier comprehensive regional institution in the nation.
In the classroom and on the playing field, Tarleton is a talent magnet for some of the brightest minds and most gifted student-athletes. Not to mention deeply accomplished faculty, tirelessly supportive staff and highly recognized coaches — coaches like Billy Gillispie.
Gillispie is new to Tarleton but not to men’s basketball. Their 15th head coach earned his share of accolades — Big 12 Coach of the Year twice, co-SEC Coach of the Year, WAC Coach of the Year — before joining the Texans in 2020. He is one of 14 active D-I coaches in the country to
win three Coach of the Year awards in three conferences. He also has a national Junior College Coach of the Year award to his credit.
Coach Gillispie has big shoes to fill following the Reisman father-son duo — Lonn and Chris. Lonn racked up a record 654 career wins before becoming Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics in 2019, and Chris spent 17 years on the Texans staff before taking over for his dad.
Head football coach Todd Whitten has renewed his contract for six more years. Coach Whitten is a proven winner as Tarleton State’s all-time wins king with a career 81-39 record. In 2019 he passed W.J. Wisdom’s 71 wins for the most in Tarleton football history.
Whitten is a five-time LSC Coach of the Year. Over the last two seasons he led the Texans to their highest national ranking in school history, back-to-back undefeated regular seasons and conference championships, and a 23-2 record.
Tarleton’s long-awaited invitation to join the WAC came in fall 2019. So did student approval, with almost 70 percent of Texans voting to increase intercollegiate athletic fees in one of Shifting fall 2020 sports to spring 2021, including traditional Homecoming activities, because of COVID-19 didn’t diminish enthusiasm.
The marching band is ready. Cheerleaders and spirit teams are ready. Fans and supporters are ready. Coaches are ready. And student-athletes are conditioning, strength training and practicing for a spring like no other.
Tarleton Athletics and Tourbeau Sports Group will broadcast six home sporting events on ESPN+ in spring 2021. Football, men’s and women’s basketball, volleyball and baseball will appear on the streaming network.
Tarleton never set out to be a secret. From our first athletic contests of the 1900s, we have always put it on the line to win big.
It’s our time to stand up. Stand out. Stand together. The world will know we’re here.
It surely will.
Cutline here
J.F. Thomas joins teammates at Memorial Stadium for practice in anticipation of a spring 2021 football season like no other.
